Liberia, with its capital Monrovia on the Atlantic is a beautiful country on the outskirts of West Africa's central rainforest belt. However, the country is one of the world's poorest and is just emerging from a devastating civil war at the turn of the millennium. The economy and infrastructure are still wrecked and the fall-out of the civil war is still being dealt with.
The country was first settled by freed African slaves from America in the 19th century (the name means 'Land of the Free') and it was one of the few African countries not to come under colonial rule.
As a result of this heritage Liberian cuisine is a melange of influences. Liberia is one of the few African countries with a native tradition of baking and this is juxtaposed with native traditions of creating palm-oil-based stews with forest greens. Being tropical the country has a high rainfall and rice is successfully grown there. Drinks such as ginger beer are also common and made locally.
The recipes below will give you a brief taste of what Liberia has to offer:
Liberian Cake
Ingredients:
150g butter(
180g caster sugar
4 eggs(
240g plain flour(
3/4 tsp baking soda(
1/2 tsp cinnamon(
1/2 tsp ground allspice(
1/4 tsp ground mace(
1/2 tsp baling powder(
1/8 tsp cloves(
200ml golden syrup(
150ml milk(
60g lemon zest, finely grated(
90g seedless raisins, chopped
(60g shredded coconut
Method:
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the butter mixture. Sift all the dry ingredients together, mix in the grated lemon zest and fold into the egg mixture, adding alternately with the syrup and milk. Stir until the mixture is smooth then fold-in the frut and coconut. Divide the batter equally between two 22cm springform cake tins. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 170°C for about 40 minutes, or until the cakes are completely set.
Greens with Green Pepper
Ingredients:
1 onion, finely chopped(
1 garlic clove, finely chopped(
4 hot chilli peppers, pounded to a paste(
2 green bell peppers, de-seeded and chopped
(
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped(
900g greens (eg spinach, cassava leaves, kale, collard greens, turnip greens etc) de-stemmed and parboiled(
salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste(
120ml peanut butter
Method:
For the native Liberian version pound a handful of the onion, garlic, chillies and tomatoes together in a pestle and mortar to form a paste (you can omit the chillies if desired).
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add your remaining chopped onion for a few minutes before adding he tomato and chilli paste. Fry for a few minutes then add he greens and 60ml water. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Add the peanut butter and stir in, season and then reduce the heat as much as possible. Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce is smooth and serve with FuFu.
I hope that these recipes have given you a little taste of the foods of Liberia and that you are now prepared to find more.
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